1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention relates to medical imaging generally, and more particularly, to radiography or radioscopy or mammography.
2. Prior Art
Mobile X-ray devices are known that comprise moving parts enabling them to turn in different directions around a patient. These moving parts thereby enable a beam of X-rays to be oriented, so as to analyze a given part of the body of the patient.
These moving parts are capable of moving in the three dimensions of a space. These moving parts are composed, in general, of a cradle comprising an X-ray tube on one of its ends and a detector on another of its ends. This tube enables a beam of X-rays to be emitted along an emission direction.
The detector is coupled to the cradle on the opposite side to the tube and in the emission direction. The detector or the tube is connected to a linear lift enabling said detector or said tube to be raised and lowered vertically in the emission direction.
However, the considerable volume of the lift does not enable the moving parts of the X-ray device to occupy all of the possible positions around the patient during a radiological examination. The examination angles are thereby restricted by this volume. Similarly, the speed of the lift cannot exceed a certain threshold due to this volume.
The document U.S. Pat. No. 6,742,929 (“the '929 patent”) teaches displacing the detector in a rotating manner. This displacement takes place in the plane of the detector, in other words horizontally. This document does not enable the detector or the tube to be raised or lowered vertically. Moreover, with this document, the image viewed by the practitioner is no longer suitable for the diagnosis since it comprises erroneous information. Indeed, the detector is displaced along an arc of circle. As a result, the detector is no longer perfectly aligned with the X-ray tube. The images supplied by the detector do not allow the practitioner to make a correct diagnosis.